Officials said at least 147 people were known to have been killed in Pakistan and 33 in Afghanistan. Twelve students died while trying to escape from a girls’ school in Taloqan, north-east Afghanistan, and six people died in the eastern province of Nangarhar. A police official in Badakhshan said dozens of houses were destroyed in two remote and sparsely populated rural districts, with some damage reported in Fayzabad. As night falls in the region, further reports of deaths are expected.

A TV presenter in Afghanistan leaves his desk in the middle of a news bulletin as a powerful earthquake strikes. The studio in Kabul starts to shake and the presenter, who looks increasingly alarmed, gets up from his chair and leaves the studio.

Plan International’s emergencies specialist, Naima Chohan, who lives in Islamabad, has said she felt the earthquake:

There was a big tremor in Islamabad and it lasted for a minute. The lamps and fans were shaking.

When I went outside, people were standing outside on the road. Many were too scared to go back in. They were remembering the 2005 earthquake that devastated parts of Pakistan 10 years ago and the aftershocks that followed. That’s what we are most scared of now.

Rashid Javed, Plan International’s country director for Pakistan, has warned of aftershocks, saying:

After an earthquake like this, access to clean water and proper sanitation are vital. People also need to be aware of the dangers of aftershocks, especially as they are being repeatedly felt across the region.

Earthquakes can disrupt or destroy critical infrastructure and that is why it is important to invest in this infrastructure and local buildings before disaster strikes.

The earthquake has hit many rural areas, where it is essential to work in partnership with local organisations as they are the first ones to respond to a crisis like this.

Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, has been tweeting about a conversation he had with Ashraf Ghani, the president of Afghanistan. He makes reference to the 12 Afghan schoolgirls who lost their lives while trying to get out of swaying buildings.

Narendra Modi (@narendramodi)

I just spoke to President @ashrafghani and expressed my sympathies & condolences at the damage caused by the earthquake.